In the South Korean horror movie Dark Nuns, Song Hye-Kyo’s Sister Juniya is a rebellious nun performing exorcisms despite all odds being against her. Not only that, but she’s also got uterine cancer that’s spread through her body, and the demon she’s facing very clearly knows she’s destined to die in 6 months. On paper, this does sound like a profound story, but in execution, I think it was a bit lacking.
Dark Nuns follows the exorcism of a young non-believer named Hee-Joon, and begins with the boy being exorcised by a priest who is unable to get rid of the demon. This is when Sister Juniya comes in, saving the day by partially containing the demon, but this isn’t enough. In this universe, if a priest fails to exorcise someone, they get possessed themselves to show us how powerful these demons truly are. Hee-Joon’s desperate mother takes him to a priest-run hospital as her last resort. Here, Father Paolo doesn’t believe in possessions or exorcisms; no, he thinks Hee-Joon has DID and needs psychiatric treatment. Under him works a nun named Sister Michaela, who is pretending to believe Father Paolo, but in truth, she’s of another opinion. Juniya then gets Michaela to join her in saving the kid, but will they succeed? Let’s find out in Dark Nuns.
Spoiler Alert
What’s A Demon Spawn?
In Dark Nuns, both Sister Juniya and Sister Michaela are called “spawns” of demons. This apparently means people born from wombs that were possessed. Like a demi-demon? It seems Hee-Joon is such a child, too. It seems these spawns inherit some powers from demons. Juniya is hearing impaired but can hear the sound of spirits. Michaela can see visions of the future. The spawns are destined to either become shamans or end up dead. A girl Michaela grew up with, possibly her sister, killed herself after teaching Michaela about tarot. That’s why Michaela puts her faith in tarot; this is something that’ll come into play later in the film. I suppose this is the reason the duo is able to protect Hee-Joon better than any priests.
What Happens With The Shaman?
The priests refuse to give Juniya permission to perform an exorcism because, as a nun, she can’t be ordained. This leaves her no choice but to take Hee-Joon through a different kind of exorcism. Also, she performed the exorcism when the previous priest nearly died in the process, but that was unofficial, and nobody was willing to acknowledge it. Juniya and Michaela take Hee-Joon to a shaman, who, like them, is a demon spawn but decided to fulfill her duty. She’s so good at what she does that she’s able to tell that Juniya needs to get checked up for her cancer. Guess everybody knows she’s dying soon. Anyway, this ritual doesn’t go as planned. In the shamanic ritual, animals are sacrificed in place of the humans after being made to host the demons. But in this case, the animals all die by themselves. Even the pot of water that the shaman is standing on shatters, making it clear that this demon is too strong for them. So, it seems the only person who can save Hee-Joon is Juniya herself.
What Do the Tarot Cards Read?
After seeing what happens with the shaman, Michaela becomes a little bit spooked out, and Juniya tells her her true name, calling herself a monster to show her some sort of solidarity. Michaela then does a tarot reading with Juniya. The first card she pulls out is the Hierophant, which is supposed to symbolize religious harmony, tradition, and societal compliance. Michaela says that the card can also mean people with spiritual abilities. The next two cards she pulls out are Death and the Emperor, which she explains by saying that even if the Emperor is dead, the one with spiritual abilities will rise. I suppose, in this case, Juniya and Michaela will be defying authority (death of the emperor) to save Hee-Joon. But most importantly, the last card she pulls out is the Lovers, which means unity and completion.
To me, this seems like a unison of the old and the new, the shamanic ritual and the church, because that’s what we get to see soon enough. Before doing the exorcism, Juniya visits the shaman from earlier, but she refuses to let anybody help her, claiming that they’re all busy on that day because it’s an important day for ancestral connections. This leaves Juniya only one option: to invite the boy with a stutter (Ae-Dong) to be the shaman on site. Ae-Dong is actually the reason Hee-Joon didn’t jump into the ocean to kill himself before the ritual earlier.
What Demon Has Possessed Hee-Joon?
Gamigin is the demon that has possessed Hee-Joon, and he’s one of the 12 evil spirits that we keep hearing about in this movie and the previous one called The Priests. While there isn’t much of a connection, some characters do get mentioned, and there’s a cameo at the end of the movie too, which tells us that there are more plans ahead for this universe. I just hope that doesn’t mean there’ll be 12 movies for 12 evil spirits. But jokes aside, Gamigin is a horse-headed demon who is known as a maquis of hell. It takes all of Juniya’s strength for Gamigin to reveal his name. During her interaction with Gamigin, Juniya ends up having a vision, or rather, being transported to the ocean. At this moment, she speaks to Hee-Joon, who thanks her, to which she says he’s worked hard. We then saw blood coming down her leg to show us that she must sacrifice herself at the end. This could also imply that it is her womb that will be the ultimate host of the demon. The worst case scenario for a woman who can’t bear a child.
Is Juniya Dead?
During Dark Nuns’ ending, after learning the demon’s name, Juniya takes the demon into her cancerous womb. Earlier, the demon had mentioned how she was a barren woman, so it’s possible Juniya wanted to have children but became a nun because of her cancer? It seems that Juniya is willing to sacrifice herself, as a woman and as a potential mother, to save the child, even though the priests told her that she should focus on getting rid of the evil spirits, even if it means killing the boy. I think if there were a priest in Juniya’s place, they’d have died or, worse, been possessed themselves. But, just as the demon predicted, Juniya dies a painful death in the fire of hell after the whole building they do the ritual burns down. She tells Michaela and Ae-Dong to take Hee-Joon to the nearest church and ring the bell 3 times so she can hear. This is for her to know that the boy is safe, and she can let herself burn in the fire with the demon. Juniya dies in the fire, and we can assume that the demon is sent back to hell too, through her sacrifice. A woman’s sacrifice for the future of the whole world.
Will There Be Another Part In ‘The Priests’ Movies?
In Dark Nuns’ ending, Deacon Choi shows up at Juniya’s grave. It’s then Sister Michaela who drives off with him. She asks him where they’re going, and he says to wherever the 12 evil spirits will be. This implies that there is a chance of a larger The Priests franchise. Dark Nuns is a direct sequel to The Priests, and I suppose with the deacon and the assistant, they have all that they need to save whoever comes next. In the end, Sister Michaela finally accepts her true nature as someone who can be powerful rather than weak with her abilities. It’s Juniya who gives her the strength to believe in herself. Shame she couldn’t save her, though. Hee-Joon will recover fully and be a normal boy once more.
